Mamdani promised to tax the rich. DSA is already mobilizing to make that happen.

Assuming he’s elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani won’t be governing alone.

“It’s not enough to just win one race. We need to understand that our politics is a politics of many, and that includes keeping the incredible champions that we have already in the state Legislature,” the newly minted Democratic nominee for mayor said on July 8, delivering remarks at a fundraiser in Astoria for state Sen. Kristen Gonzalez, his comrade in the Democratic Socialists of America and an early endorser of his mayoral campaign. “If you are excited by what we have achieved, if you have been a part of what we have achieved, know that you are also part of a larger movement, and that movement includes our incredible state senator,” he told the crowd.

That movement, and the support of Gonzalez and other state lawmakers backed by the DSA, could serve a crucial role for Mamdani if he becomes the city’s next mayor. To deliver on his ambitious and expensive campaign promises, he’ll likely need to rely on the assistance of the New York City chapter of the DSA, the socialist group that has helped power his campaign (and of which I’m a former member).

While the DSA’s current priority is supporting Mamdani in the general election, it has also begun sketching out a post-election plan to provide outside support to Mamdani once he’s in office. This strategy is deeply rooted in the DSA’s ideal of “co-governance” and envisions a broad coalition of Mamdani supporters and allied groups working in concert with the mayor’s office to pressure the state government to approve Mamdani’s proposals to increase taxes on wealthy New York City residents and use the proceeds to fund free buses, universal child care and city-owned grocery stores.

“I think we’ll need that to be able to advance Zohran’s platform, because he knows this, and all the groups backing him know this, that he can’t do it alone, and he’s an organizer, so he doesn’t want to,” Grace Mausser, the co-chair of NYC-DSA, told City & State. “That means having regular communication with other groups who have the ability to mobilize people outside of City Hall.”

Socialist in office

Mamdani has close ties to the New York City chapter of the DSA. He joined the group in 2017 and worked on or volunteered for a number of DSA-backed electoral campaigns before running for Assembly himself with the DSA’s support in 2020. After winning election to the state Legislature, he joined the DSA’s newly formed Socialists in Office committee, which brings together DSA organizers and DSA-backed state lawmakers to discuss issues in Albany and discuss legislative strategy.

Mamdani’s connection to the DSA has helped shape his campaign. Before declaring his candidacy for mayor, he discussed the prospect of a run with DSA leaders and members, and the DSA was one of the first groups to endorse him. Many of his top campaign staffers are members of the DSA, and much of his platform was written in consultation with DSA working groups.

Just as Mamdani’s campaign has showcased the DSA’s approach to campaign strategy, a Mamdani mayoralty could serve as a test of the DSA’s approach to governance. The precise contours of the DSA’s relationship with a future Mamdani administration are still coming into focus. The organization itself is unlikely to have any formal role in City Hall, though many DSA members are likely to end up as staffers in the Mamdani administration.

The socialist organization advocates for a model of “co-governance,” or an “inside-outside strategy,” where a mobilized base of supporters and organized labor works in concert with elected officials to exert pressure on politicians who attempt to block popular policies. In other words, the DSA does not just want to get Mamdani into City Hall and then leave him to fend for himself as he wrestles with the inherent trade-offs of the job. Instead, it aims to get him into office and then continue to wage public pressure campaigns in support of his policy proposals.

Continuing the campaign

Mamdani has run an issues-driven campaign, branding his candidacy with a series of simple and universal policy prescriptions: “Freeze the rent,” “Make buses fast and free,” “city-owned grocery stores,” “universal child care.” Mamdani’s focus on issues over identity has helped expand his coalition – bringing in many voters who are disillusioned with politics but attracted to Mamdani’s tangible promises – but it also means that Mamdani, to a greater extent than other candidates, will face real pressure from his base to deliver on his campaign promises.

Mamdani faces structural obstacles to accomplishing his agenda. As many of his critics have pointed out, New York City is largely a creature of New York state, and Mamdani’s proposal to increase taxes on wealthy New York City residents to pay for programs like free buses and universal child care would require the approval of the state Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul. This fact has prompted some observers to assume that Mamdani will be forced to scale back his ambitions once he becomes mayor and encounters a wall of opposition in Albany – just as former Mayor Bill de Blasio had to when then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo rejected his own plans to tax the rich.

But the DSA believes that co-governance offers the promise of a different strategy. In concrete terms, this means that the DSA – likely as part of a coalition with other groups that backed Mamdani’s candidacy – will launch an aggressive campaign to convince state legislators and Hochul to pass tax increases on wealthy New York City residents.

“Obviously, the mayor is not a legislator in Albany. So to move the pieces that need to be moved, both on legislators and to create pressure on the governor, that’s going to require thousands of people to be working in concert,” Mausser said.

Mamdani himself could use the bully pulpit of the mayor’s office to call on the state government to tax the rich to fund his proposals – a call that prominent socialist elected officials like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could echo. Lawmakers in the state Socialists in Office bloc could work behind the scenes to convince recalcitrant legislators to back Mamdani’s policies, just as they have with previous bills backed by the DSA. And many of Mamdani’s 50,000 or so campaign volunteers could be mobilized to call legislators and advocate for them to tax the rich or even travel to Albany to protest in person.

Putting pressure on Albany

It’s easy to dismiss all of this as wishful thinking. But there’s reason to believe that a coordinated pressure campaign waged by Mamdani and his supporters could be effective.

In recent years, state lawmakers have indicated an openness to tax hikes on the wealthy. In their one-house budget proposals this year, both the state Senate and Assembly proposed raising the marginal tax rate on the state’s top two income tax brackets by 0.5% and increasing the corporate tax rate for businesses making over $5 million from 7.25% to 9%. The proposed tax increases never made it into the final budget, though, due to Hochul’s staunch opposition. Mamdani has proposed raising taxes even higher – adding a 2% income tax on New York City residents who make over $1 million per year and raising the top corporate tax rate to 11.5%.

Mausser believes that Mamdani’s win could embolden the state Legislature to push harder for tax increases next year. “I think there is more appetite for it than there has been previously,” Mausser said. “I think the dual factors of President Trump cutting New York’s budget and Zohran’s incredible win and the popularity of his platform has swayed a lot of legislators who may not have felt this way a year ago.”

Mike Murphy, a spokesperson for state Senate Democrats, agreed that there is more support now for raising taxes on the rich. “I think there is certainly more hope and momentum than past years for this,” he said. “We have always been supportive of ensuring everyone pays their fair share and that we have the resources to help all New Yorkers while keeping the Empire State the economic engine of the country.”

But the governor has refused to entertain the idea of raising taxes.

“Governor Hochul has been clear that she will not raise income taxes,” a spokesperson for Hochul told City & State. “Affordability is the number one issue for New Yorkers, which is why Governor Hochul has been focused on putting more money back into people’s pockets through a middle class tax cut, inflation rebate checks and an expanded Child Tax Credit. Raising income taxes risks driving more people out of the state, cutting into the tax revenue we depend on to fund everything from social services to public safety.”

In order to get Mamdani’s platform through Albany, the movement behind the new mayor will need to find some way to convince Hochul or otherwise exert leverage over her.

In past years, the number of lawmakers publicly demanding tax increases has been relatively small – mostly limited to Mamdani and his fellow Socialists in Office. State legislative leaders have proposed tax increases in their budget proposals but have never insisted on them during negotiations with the governor. If a majority of lawmakers sign on to the call for tax increases, though, legislative leaders may be able to hold their own when negotiating next year’s budget with Hochul.

A complicating factor is that Hochul will be running for reelection next year. Facing a strong general election challenge from a Republican like Rep. Elise Stefanik could make her reluctant to approve any tax increases, for fear of alienating moderate voters. But Hochul also faces a primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, who is running to her left. Delgado was quick to endorse Mamdani following the latter’s primary victory and has tried to portray himself as being in sync with Mamdani. “There’s no question in my mind that when it comes to raising revenue, addressing economic inequality in a meaningful way, there is really, really solid common ground between the two of us,” he told Politico.

Delgado is not a member of the DSA – “I’m a capitalist,” he told supporters – but he has called for raising taxes on the rich. He may not be a comrade, but Delgado could still be an ally to Mamdani supporters hoping to put pressure on Hochul’s left flank. “One thing I think about is ‘no permanent friends, no permanent enemies,’” Mausser said. “If we have aligned goals with someone, there could be ways for us to work together.”

State Sen. Jabari Brisport, one of Mamdani’s closest allies in Albany, was more blunt when speaking with City & State at Mamdani’s election night party. “I think (Hochul) should be primaried and defeated if she does not agree to tax increases,” he said. “It is such an irresponsible use of power to sit in the role of governor and constantly coddle billionaires rather than give New Yorkers what they need.”

Hochul is not concerned about the prospect of voters punishing her for refusing to support Mamdani’s plan to raise taxes on the rich. “New Yorkers across the state have been clear – they are looking for affordability, not higher taxes,” a spokesperson for the governor said.

Taking power

The DSA is committed to fighting for Mamdani’s platform – which, after all, its members helped write – but Mausser also recognizes that there will inevitably be points of tension between the organization and a Mayor Mamdani.

While Mamdani is by far the furthest left Democratic nominee in recent history, his politics on some issues are still to the right of the organization’s. This is especially clear when it comes to the New York City Police Department; Mamdani has said that police officers play a vital role in public safety and called for keeping the NYPD’s headcount at its current level, while many DSA members are police abolitionists and the organization has called for defunding the NYPD. If Mamdani opts to keep NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch in her current position, as The New York Times recently reported he might, it would upset much of his socialist base.

The DSA has had embarrassing public breakups with its endorsed politicians in the past. In 2021, when then-Rep. Jamaal Bowman voted in favor of military aid for Israel and went on a trip to the country – in violation of the DSA’s call to boycott Israel – some within the organization publicly called for him to be expelled, though the DSA’s national leadership ultimately declined to expel him. Three years later, a new group of national DSA leaders created a media frenzy when they declined to endorse Ocasio-Cortez for reelection – also over concerns about her position on Israel. But the New York City chapter of the DSA remained supportive of Ocasio-Cortez and never rescinded its endorsement of her.

But those expecting that the DSA will turn on Mamdani as soon as he chooses political pragmatism over ideological commitment may be surprised.

The DSA considers Mamdani one of its own, which means that political disputes may be worked out behind closed doors rather than turning into a damaging public spectacle. “He has been a DSA member for nearly a decade. He’s been deeply involved in the chapter. He’s been an elected leader in DSA,” Mausser said. “I think we will treat him and will strive to treat him as someone who is part of the org, and therefore, disputes, problems, things like that, we make every attempt to deal with them internally before we turn to publicly tearing down one another.”

For Mausser, that willingness to manage internal conflict while holding true to one’s values is a side effect of the DSA finally winning real power. “My belief, and I think the orientation of New York City DSA, is that we can’t be so scared of the tension that power creates that we just don’t go after power,” she said. “That is the position the left has been in for too long.”